The urban heritage characterization using 3D geographic information systems. The system of medium-sized cities in Andalusia

The primary objective of this paper is to approach the use of the 3D Geographic Information Systems (3D GIS), as an instrumental tool that allows us to deal efficiently with the extensive amount of information that characterises a large part of the research carried out in the field of Urbanism and Regional Planning. Specifically, the study focuses on medium-sized cities in Andalusia, the most populous and the second largest region in Spain. The Andalusian urban system is substantially characterised by the historical importance of this type of cities within its territorial organisation, which dates back to more than two thousand years, and whose potential as sustainable and balanced stands out. In particular, it is intended to address features related to urban characterisation as medium-sized cities that have been declared as heritage sites, as well as, the integration of the cultural heritage into urban development planning as an active strategy by the cultural administration of the regional and local governments. In detail, this paper will analyse data relating to the development experienced, their characterisation through urban indicators or the evolution and traceability of their protection. In this sense, the use of 3D GIS will not only allow the efficient recording and the graphical representation of a significant amount of data resulting from the quantitative and qualitative analysis carried out but also model them using the third dimension to facilitate a cross analysis among the cities under study. Definitely, the aim is to demonstrate the suitability use of this technology in this type of scientific research.Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of the Government of Spain HAR2016-79788-

African-European contacts in the Kongo Kingdom (sixteenth-eighteenth centuries): new archaeological insights from Ngongo Mbata (Lower Congo, DRC)

Ngongo Mbata, the main and most affluent center of the Kongo kingdom’s Mbata province in the 17th century, is well known from the historical sources, but virtually unexplored in archaeological publications. Ngongo Mbata is unique in that it hosted a monumental stone building about which the historical record remains silent. This makes it particularly challenging from the point of view of historical archaeology. In this paper historical data, unpublished excavation results from the 1930s and our own fieldwork undertaken in 2012-2013 are brought together, to tell a new story of early African-European contacts in the interior of West Central Africa

Upper Agri Valley (Basilicata) between Geomorphology and Ancient Settlements

In this paper we present the geoarchaeological and landscape project on the Upper Agri Valley (Basilicata). Between 2012 and 2015 we coordinated multidisciplinary research with the purpose of reconstructing the history and evolution of the territory, analysing the relationships between man and landscape from the Prehistory to the Middle Age. The studied area, an inland mountain valley situated in the ancient Lucania, is very important, because it is a fundamental route between the two coasts of Magna Graecia and because during the Roman period this valley was the territory in which Grumentum was born, one of the most important towns of Roman Southern Italy. Thanks to the dialogue between different competences, this project aims at understanding the settlements dynamics and the mutual influences between man and environment: indeed, we conducted geophysics and geoarchaeological investigations, archaeological surveys, cartographic and aerial photos studies, written sources analysis: in this way, different data are used to understand the landscape from a global point of view

Sustainable architecture and food production: impact of modernity on the traditional urban form

Architecture in any period has often been a reflection of the sociological, cultural, economic and technological aspects of its development. Though it has been argued that Africa has no recorded history in the written form, but evidences persist of the rich culture of the different tribes that makes up the constituent of its inhabitants. This paper examines some of these socio-cultural factors that impinge on the historical traditional forms and architectural system in sub-Saharan Africa, by considering the pattern of food production and consumption. It also examines in particular existing relationship between architecture and food consumption that affect the sustainable built form found in south west Nigeria. The paper is thus an endeavor to discuss the connections, interrelationships and benefits of these concepts in the evolving modern socio-cultural views on Africa. The paper report a recent field survey carried out in the study area, based on quantitative and qualitative methodology. Sizeable numbers of questionnaire are administered to the target population, using stratified random sampling method in order to elicit primary data; with 76 percent response rate from the respondent. The survey and interview conducted highlights a number of observations and conclusion of the relationship between food production activities and its role in city development or formation

Megastructures: a great-size solution for affordable housing. The case study of Rome

During the 70’s and 80’s, affordable housing production in Europe faced the huge emergency caused by rising urbanization. In suburban areas of European main cities, megastructures appeared, drawing visible marks in urban fabric. Megastructures were planned to synthesize residential functions and all existing services of traditional city in unique buildings. Nowadays, these buildings are affected by bad physical conditions and they are no longer able to satisfy the needs of the contemporary demand. The proposed paper investigates the genesis of housing megastructures with particular regards to the Italian case and council housing districts realized in Rome within the 1st public plan for council and affordable housing (1964), an original plan for the settlement of 700,000 inhabitants. A focus will be proposed concerning the differences between megastructures and traditional big buildings and the main connections between the spread of great-size buildings and the industrialization and automatization of construction techniques. An insight about possible future regenerations intervention is suggested

Counter-intelligence in a command economy

We provide the first thick description of the KGB’s counter-intelligence function in the Soviet command economy. Based on documentation from Lithuania, the paper considers KGB goals and resources in relation to the supervision of science, industry, and transport; the screening of business personnel; the management of economic emergencies; and the design of economic reforms. In contrast to a western market regulator, the role of the KGB was to enforce secrecy, monopoly, and discrimination. As in the western market context, regulation could give rise to perverse incentives with unintended consequences. Most important of these may have been adverse selection in the market for talent. There is no evidence that the KGB was interested in the costs of its regulation or in mitigating the negative consequences

Exchange, interaction and settlement in northwestern Botswana: past and present perspective

African Studies Center Working Paper No. 3